Strong iPhone Sales Lift Apple’s Asian Suppliers

Shares of Apple Inc.'s suppliers in Asia rose Tuesday on news the company’s latest iPhones were selling better than expected.

A customer configures the fingerprint scanner technology built into iPhone 5S at an Apple store in Beijing’s Wangfujing shopping district in Beijing.

Associated Press

Apple said Monday it sold nine million of the two new handsets – the iPhone 5C and 5S – in their first three days on the market, above many analysts’ expectations and outpacing the five million units sold during the iPhone 5′s opening weekend last year.

“Increased panel supplies for new iPhones and iPads will likely lead to a jump in Apple-derived revenue” for LG Display, KTB Investment & Securities wrote in a research note. The brokerage expects strong panel supplies to Apple to override bleak LCD demand for television sets in the third quarter, helping to boost LG Display’s operating profit.

In Japan, shares of Murata Manufacturing Co., which supplies ceramic capacitors and wireless communication modules used in iPhones, were up 1.4% at 7,400 yen (US$75) Tuesday afternoon.

Still, shares of Sharp Corp., which makes iPhone displays, were down 1.6% at 363 yen.

While the sales figures seem strong, there are a few things to keep in mind. This time, China – the world’s largest smartphone market — was among the first markets where Apple released the new phones, unlike the previous iPhone releases when the new models arrived in China several months later. Also, as Apple’s count includes sales to other retailers, the nine million units include unsold iPhone 5C models at non-Apple retailers, analysts said.